100 Historical Stories That Unlock Teenage Wisdom

Chapter 10

Chapter 19 Li Linfu

——Don't trust and make big mistakes. Teenagers have little life experience and are easy to trust others. Especially when facing sweet words from others, they tend to let down their vigilance and fall into the trap.

In the early days of Tang Xuanzong's reign as emperor, because he felt that stability was hard-won, he must cherish it.Therefore, some virtuous ministers such as Yao Chong and Song Jing were appointed to govern the country with diligence and thrift, which made the Tang Dynasty flourish and formed a famous peaceful and prosperous age in Chinese history, that is, the "Government of Kaiyuan" ("Kaiyuan" is the early period of Emperor Xuanzong of Tang Dynasty). year number).

But at the end of the Kaiyuan period, as Tang Xuanzong grew older, seeing that the world was peaceful and the people had enough food and clothing, he gradually lost the vigorous and upward spirit at the beginning, and fell into comfort and enjoyment.He is very satisfied with the achievements he has made, and no longer pays attention to being virtuous and loyal when employing people. He only listens to flattery and flattery, but cannot stand criticism and direct advice.As a result, treacherous officials became rampant, loyal officials were squeezed out, and the government began to go downhill.

The traitor Li Linfu started his business at this time.There is an idiom called "mouth honey belly sword", which refers to Li Linfu.

Li Linfu has no other skills, but he is particularly good at flattering and flattering.He is considerate and tactful in dealing with people, with a happy smile all day long, and he speaks sweet words, which is very satisfactory, but he is always thinking of defrauding others in his heart.After a long time, everyone has been fooled by him and suffered from him, and they all know that he is a kind-hearted person, so they use the words "the mouth has honey, and the belly has a sword" to describe him.

Li Linfu's fortune started from the harem.He has always been in close contact with the eunuchs and concubines in the palace, because he knows that these people serve the emperor, so those eunuchs and concubines hurriedly told Li Linfu about the emperor's every move and thoughts.After Li Linfu knew about it, he catered to Tang Xuanzong's thoughts everywhere in talking and doing things, which made Tang Xuanzong feel very comfortable and felt that Li Linfu was a capable person.

Tang Xuanzong's favorite concubine at that time was Concubine Wu Hui, and he even wanted to make her a queen.But the ministers strongly opposed it, so Tang Xuanzong had no choice but to give up.

Li Linfu seized this opportunity, courted Concubine Wu Hui, and said, "If you can't be a queen, it's because of the ministers' obstruction. It seems that there is no way. But don't worry, concubine, I will try to make your son King Shou be a queen." Go up to the prince." Concubine Wu Hui was full of joy when she said this, and she kept saying good things about Li Linfu in front of Tang Xuanzong.In this way, Tang Xuanzong valued Li Linfu even more and wanted to promote him to prime minister.

Tang Xuanzong told his thoughts to the old prime minister Zhang Jiuling, hoping to hear Zhang Jiuling's opinion.Zhang Jiuling is not only talented, but also upright and fair.He has long seen that Li Linfu's intentions are not righteous, and he is not qualified to be an official, let alone a prime minister, so he flatly rejected it: "The prime minister is not an ordinary official, but it is related to the future of the country! How can a person like Li Linfu OK!"

This word soon reached Li Linfu's ears, and he gritted his teeth with hatred, always looking for opportunities to take revenge on Zhang Jiuling.Later, when it came to the promotion of Niu Xianke and the abolition of the prince, Li Linfu joined Xuanzong and sang against Zhang Jiuling, which finally made the emperor cold and alienated Zhang Jiuling.

Li Linfu squeezed out Zhang Jiuling and became even more rampant.One day, he called together those admonishers who specially advised the emperor, and taught him a lesson: "The current emperor is a rare and brilliant son in history, and we as ministers are obedient, so I am afraid that we are not qualified. There is no need to say Gossip? Have you seen that the horses used by the palace guard of honor eat as much fodder as the salary of a third-rank official, and the treatment is very good. However, as long as any horse is found to be dishonest and casually barking, it will immediately Get it out of the guard of honor."

The ministers saw that Tang Xuanzong favored Li Linfu, and seeing that Zhang Jiuling and Yan Tingzhi were all unlucky, no one dared to speak again.No one whispered in Tang Xuanzong's ear, Li Linfu even covered the sky with one hand, and had no scruples in doing bad things.

After a while, Tang Xuanzong thought of Yan Tingzhi again, and asked Li Linfu: "How is Yan Tingzhi now? He is very talented and can be used by me."

Li Linfu was very unhappy in his heart, but on the surface he was extremely sincere and serious, and said respectfully: "Since the emperor is still thinking about him, let me inquire about it, and then report."

After retiring from the court, Li Linfu sent someone to find Yan Tingzhi's younger brother, and said to him: "I know your brother really wants to return to the capital. This matter is easy to handle, and I have a way to get him back."

Yan Tingzhi's younger brother thought that Li Linfu really cared about his brother, and was very grateful, so he said, "Thank you, Prime Minister, for your concern. I wonder if there is any way to make my brother return to the capital again?"

Li Linfu said with a smile on his face: "You're welcome, your brother and I are old friends. You write a letter and ask your brother to write a memorial to the emperor, saying that he is sick and requesting to return to the capital for treatment."

Yan Tingzhi received a letter from his younger brother, and he really played the Taoist memorial as Li Linfu said.When Li Linfu received the memorial, he showed it to Tang Xuanzong, and said: "I never thought that Yan Tingzhi would be seriously ill at such a young age, and he would not be able to do great things. Such a talent is really a pity!"

Tang Xuanzong sighed, unable to express his regret, and threw Yan Tingzhi's letter aside.

This incident fully exposed Li Linfu's cunning face.And there are more than one or two people who have been deceived like Yan Tingzhi!
Li Linfu relied on his tricks to flatter horses, deceive his subordinates and conceal his superiors, and served as prime minister for a total of 19 years.All the upright and capable ministers were excluded from the court by him, and all the flattering and incompetent villains were promoted and reused.From then on, the Tang Dynasty declined, and soon the Anshi Rebellion broke out.Wisdom Interpretation:
Vanity is a kind of "disease" that teenagers are most likely to contract. This "disease" is often an "ant's nest" that leads to the collapse of "a thousand miles of embankment". Therefore, teenagers must treat themselves modestly and prudently, and recognize their own advantages. Inferior, to correctly evaluate one's ability, only by recognizing yourself can you treat other people's sugar-coated bullets objectively and calmly, you will not trust others' sweet words, you will not be hurt by people with sweet words, and you will be able to keep yourself rational and clear. Eventually to success.

(End of this chapter)